Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Relocation Act of 2025
Summary
SB 2044, the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Relocation Act of 2025, would require the Secretary of Energy to move the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management from Washington, DC, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by December 31, 2026. The bill expressly overrides the general federal rule that certain offices be located in the District of Columbia, making the relocation mandatory rather than discretionary.
In addition to ordering the move, the bill requires the Secretary to report to Congress within one year after the relocation is completed. That report must describe employee attrition during and after the move, assess whether the relocation caused that attrition, explain how the Department will address any losses, and evaluate how the move affected employees’ ability to bargain through representatives over working conditions.
Impact
The bill would directly alter the location of a specific Department of Energy office and create a new congressional reporting requirement tied to the relocation. It would affect federal administrative operations, employee retention, and labor-management relations within the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, while also carving out an exception to the general federal location rule referenced in title 4 of the U.S. Code.
Sentiment
The available context suggests generally favorable or bipartisan support for the concept, as the bill was introduced by Senator McCormick with Senator Fetterman as a cosponsor. There are no recorded committee transcripts or votes in the provided material, so there is no evidence of formal opposition or amendment debate in the available record.
Contention
The main potential points of contention are practical and labor-related: whether relocating the office would disrupt operations, cause employee attrition, or impair collective bargaining and workplace representation. Another likely issue is the policy rationale for moving a federal office out of Washington, DC, and whether the benefits to Pittsburgh outweigh the costs and administrative disruption. No specific objections are documented in the provided materials, but the required report signals that employee retention and labor impacts were anticipated concerns.
Public Service Commission consideration of the social cost of carbon emissions and the recovery of costs relating to fossil fuel energy production infrastructure and transitioning to renewable resource energy production. (FE)
Exported Carbon Emissions Report Act of 2025This bill directs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to annually collect, calculate, and publish information on certain emissions of carbon dioxide and methane from fossil fuels. Specifically, the EPA must publish information, for each of the previous 10 years, on the total emissions of carbon dioxide and methane that are released (1) within the boundaries of the United States that are the result of the extraction, processing, transportation, combustion, and other use of fossil fuels; and (2) outside the boundaries of the United States that are the result of leakage and combustion of fossil fuels produced or refined in the United States and subsequently exported.